Why I won't give up on my dream

I spent every day of the last two months thinking about my next project. I started working on a few different things, when finally a combination of old ideas reformed into something new. Today is the first day I'm sharing that project - Weekend Wonder.

A woman who recently lost her job meets a man at a hotel and their serendipitous first date leads to robbing a convenience store.

Earlier this year my first feature film project failed to get off the ground. I'm sure there are thousands of hopefuls who could say the same thing right now.

What matters most is execution, not ideas. You can have all the ideas in the world. If you can't put those ideas into motion, if you can't have something to show for your ideas, why should anyone care about them?

Weekend Wonder is a short film project. Why a short? Money. Hopefully one day I can expand on the characters and the ideas in the film to create something larger. Think of it as an prologue to what will eventually, hopefully, be my first feature film.

I thought about this for awhile. As I mention on the Kickstarter page, failing publicly is hard, and I've failed more than once. And I definitely don't want to be seen as begging for money.

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”

– Winston Churchill

But a couple simple facts brought me back one more time (likely for the last time).

People out there believe in me. When things aren't going well, it's easy to lose sight of this. But there are people who want me to succeed, and giving them a chance to get involved in the process and offer a couple dollars to help me out is a really unique experience. It also pushes me to work even harder knowing that there are people counting on me.

I can't do this alone. I've done projects with no money for the last ten years. To take my work to the next level, like I did with Portrait, I need the chance to use real props, real locations, and to be able to afford things like really great music. In film, that all adds up to what is called production value. It's a major part of what separates the good from the great. I've worked a long time to improve my skills, and I continue to improve every day. But no amount of practice or skill will enable me to afford all of the expenses that come with making a film on my own.

I shouldn't be scared of failure.This is the last thing I keep reminding myself. Too many people start the race and get too scared or too frustrated. They come up with excuses. They have a million ideas but don't follow through on any of them.

Success in a creative field is a marathon, not a sprint. If I fail, then I fail today, not forever. Not trying means I don't even get a shot. I'll take my chances.